Success in this life comes to the deserving. It is an axiom demonstrated by all human experience, that a man gets out of this life what he puts into it, plus a reasonable interest on the investment. The individual who inherits a large estate and adds nothing to his fortune cannot be called a successful man. He that falls heir to a large fortune and increases its value is successful in proportion to the amount he adds to his possession. But the man who starts in the world unaided and by sheer force of will, controlled by correct principles, forges ahead and at length reaches a position of honor among his fellow citizens achieves success such as representatives of the two former classes can neither understand nor appreciate. To a considerable extent the subject of this sketch is a creditable representative of the class last named, a class which has furnished much of the bone and sinew of the country and addled to the stability of the government and its institutions.

George Allen, the popular and accommodating proprietor of one of the leading livery stables of Cadillac, Wexford county, Michigan, was born in the township of Etibocoke, county of York, province of Ontario, Canada, the date of his birth being the 9th of January, 1848. His parents were Thomas and Margaret Allen, the father a native of Nova Scotia and the mother of Yorkshire, England. The subject of this sketch was reared upon the parental farmstead and was early inured to the hard toil and labor incident to the life of an agriculturist. He attended the schools of his neighborhood and received a fair education, remaining~ at home until he reached his twenty-second year. At that age he left his native country and came to the United States, locating at Cedar Springs, Kent county, Michigan, where for about a year he was employed in a lumber yard.
Removing at the end of that time to Morley, Mecosta county, this state, he entered the employ of Cummer & Son, the extensive lumber manufacturing firm. He remained at Morley for several years and then, about 1878, was transferred to Cadillac, where he remained in the employ of the same firm until November, 1898, the long period of thirty years employment by one firm testifying to his faithfulness and efficiency as an employee. Upon leaving the employ of the Cummers. Mr. Allen engaged in business on his own account, opening a livery stable in Cadillac, which he has since conducted. His enterprise at once met with the approval of the general public, which has given him its patronage to a gratifying extent. Mr. Allen has a well equipped stable, containing stylish, up-to-date turn-outs of every description, as well as the heavier style of vehicles for transportation, and his stalls are occupied by a number of fine horses. Mr. Allen's evident desire to please his customers and his ability to provide any accommodations desired in his line have brought to him a well-deserved patronage and he has acquired a splendid reputation throughout this section of the county.

George Allen was married at Sutton, Ontario, Canada, on the 19th of May, 1875, to Miss Mary Ann Mossington, a native of that province, born in 1840, and the daughter of Mark and Elizabeth (Comer) Mossington. This union has been blessed by the b1irth of one daughter, Ada M., who is now the wife of Walter Kysor. Mrs. Allen is a pleasant, intelligent lady, possessed of strong traits of character, and has proven to her husband a helpmate in the truest sense of the term. Politically Mr. Allen is a Republican and has ever taken a keen interest in the success of his party and in the advancement of all movements having for their object the advancement of the interests of his city and county. For six consecutive years he served as a member of the city council and in that body won an enviable reputation for his earnest and untiring efforts to elevate the standing of his city along all lines. Mrs. Allen and her daughter are faithful and consistent members of the Congregational church, to which the subject contributes liberally. Fraternally Mr. Allen is a Mason, holding membership in Big Rapids Lodge No. 171 and also in the chapter at Cadillac. He also belongs to Cadillac Lodge No. 249, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Allen has in all the relations of life proven himself equal to the responsibilities which have been thrown upon him and because of his many sterling qualities he has won the regard of the entire community. His career has been one of unceasing activity and it presents much that is pleasing as well as profitable to young men just starting out in life.